Friends shocked at death of Jersey City couple killed in Virginia by a tornado

Friends of a Jersey City couple killed when a tornado struck a campground in Cherrystone, Virginia this morning are congregating at the couple’s Danforth Avenue home in grief and disbelief this evening.

“I just spoke to them last night,” said a stunned friend of the family of Lord Balatbat and Lolibeth Ortega, both 38. Sitting on a front stoop near the couple’s home, the man, who identified himself only as Albert, said, “they were fishing…They were happy…I never expected this, ever.”

Their son, 13, who was in a nearby tent, was taken to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk with serious injuries, officials said. Albert said the couple’s two daughters were also on the camping trip.

The daughters were uninjured, according to Albert.

Albert said he has known the couple a dozen years. He said he works in a lab in Lodi and he met Balatbat there. Albert said the couple and their two children take a camping trip to Virginia each year and said they were having a great time. Albert’s wife Anne, was too distraught to speak about the deaths.

About 1,300 people were at the campground which features swimming pools, mini-golf, pier fishing and other activities at the 300-acre resort.

Peter Glagola, spokesman for Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital in Nassawadox, VA, said the hospital was treating more than two dozen patients this afternoon, most of which were in fair condition with injuries ranging from cuts to broken bones.

Glagola said more patients were expected to be brought to the hospital and one patient in critical condition was flown to VCU Medical Center in Richmond, Glagola said.

Hospitals in Virginia Beach and Norfolk had been preparing for mass casualties but had received just three patients, one of whom was taken to a nearby children’s hospital, said Sentara Healthcare spokesman Dale Gauding.

Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 3rd Class David Weydert said crews also were responding to reports of boats overturned in the area. Good Samaritans pulled at least three people from the water, he said, though their conditions were unknown.